Remembering An Illustrious Son

Although it is a statutory holiday, we think that reflecting on what propelled him to embark on his political project and what he aimed at achieving at the end of the day, would be the most rewarding tribute to his memory.

Unfortunately, many who are enjoying the holiday today hardly know the man enough to undertake such an academic exercise, even if cursorily.

Be it as it may, we wish to remind ourselves about Kwame Nkrumah and how together with others he embarked upon the independence agenda—something thought by scepticsas an impossible dream at the time.

It is interesting but not surprising that today some seek to restrict the feat of the attainment of independence or the founding of modern Ghana to one man.

While we disagree with this, we do not think that it should be the source of a protracted political polemics as it happened sometime ago.

We think that on such an occasion Kwame Nkrumah should be remembered in the context of how he joined hands with others to release the then Gold Coast from the shackles of colonialism.

Indeed, his colleagues found in him a talent for political organisation, which they used sufficiently until he broke away to form his Convention People’s Party (CPP). Whatever were the reasons behind the secession, the eventual attainment of independence was so fantastic it would only be just to accord his memories with deference and avoid sources of unnecessary disagreements over history – aspects of which are subjective.

Perhaps the birthday of the other members of the team should be remembered too in one way or the other because as observed in a preceding paragraph, the feat of the attainment of independence was not a solo affair but a joint effort. Indeed, we will be distorting history when we ignore the developments which preceded the eventual secession of Kwame Nkrumah.

Be it as it may, the inroads Kwame Nkrumah made both locally and in the international community have been remarkable, for which we doff our hats.

The physical developments he bequeathed to the country he helped found, still stand to the memory of he and his colleagues.

The founding of Ghana was a joint effort and we doff our hats for both Kwame Nkrumah and his colleagues.

The name Ghana is sometimes synonymous with Kwame Nkrumah as a result of how high the first President lifted the flag of the newly independent Ghana.

As we commemorate his birth, let us resolve to live by his ideals of developing our nation – something we cannot do with the current spate of corruption and bad governance.

It is lamentable that so many years after the lowering of the Union Jack, we are still suffering the traits of underdevelopment – stations we should have gone pass by now.